Lord Hanson dies at 82

LORD Hanson, one of Britain's most successful businessmen, has died aged 82. A renowned Thatcherite and one of the first British businessmen to earn more than £1m a year, he had fought a long battle with cancer.

He died at his Berkshire home with his son Robert at his side. His wife Lady Geraldine died from leukaemia in February and he also left another son, Brook, and a step-daughter Karyn.

Together with his partner the late Lord White, the two buccaneering financiers built a transatlantic empire with assets ranging from America's largest mining group Peabody, to Britain's Imperial Tobacco.

His success in bridging the Atlantic gap and his advocacy of laissez faire capitalism led to him being closely identified with Margaret Thatcher's era as Prime Minister.

He, along with Lord King of British Airways, was one of the few businessmen who could pick up the phone to Mrs Thatcher and pop round to Downing Street for a glass of whisky.

Once engaged to Audrey Hepburn, his great contribution to British finance was the embrace of the hostile takeover.

He was the first financier to recognise the hidden value in traditional manufacturing firms both here and in the US.

Starting in 1967 with the takeover of West of England Sack for a modest £3.2m, Hanson embarked on an audacious spending spree on both sides of the Atlantic swallowing such great names as London Brick, Imperial Group and United Drapery Stores.

The very name of Hanson - once dubbed Lord Moneybags by a national newspaper - on a company's share register was enough to send the management into emergency session.

It was his purchase of a stake in ICI, Britain's most famous manufacturing group 1991, which led to the break up of the chemical giant and the formation of the drugs company AstraZeneca.

Hanson was an unapologetic Tory whose companies gave generously to Conservative election campaigns and would readily turn to print to support the Atlantic alliance and free market capitalism.

Over the years his honest views on business and free markets frequently appeared on the pages of the Daily Mail.

James Hanson was born into a Huddersfield transport dynasty and lived the life of a playboy until his mid-40s.

He met Audrey Hepburn during the filming of her first hit Roman Holiday. Hanson worshipped the ground she walked on but they drifted apart.

He and White founded a theatrical agency which gave them access to Hollywood starlets including Jean Simmons whom he numbered among his girlfriends.

His greatest conquest in the business world was the takeover of Imperial Group in 1984. At a cost of £2bn it was Britain's biggest-ever merger.

But such was the confidence in Hanson's ability to break the group up and release cash, the deal barely raised an eyebrow in the City of London.

Indeed, so high was confidence that he was able to complete a parallel deal in the United States to take over the chemical and typewriter group SCM almost at the same time.

Hanson, whose personal fortune was estimated at £100mn, was driven by a fear of failure. His father Bill had overstretched himself in the 1930s and went into bankruptcy. The event had a searing effect on the young James and made him determined to do even better.

In the 1990s, Hanson recognised that his empire had grown too large and that his son Robert would never want to take up the reins of the business.

So he delivered his medicine to his own empire, breaking it up into several public companies, most of which are still quoted on stock markets in London and New York.

Conservative leader Michael Howard said: 'James Hanson will be remembered as one of the great industrialists of recent times who played a leading role in the economic regeneration of Britain.

'His determination and focus set an example and inspired many new entrepreneurs in Britain, but he was also an enormously distinguished citizen of our country.'